What We Learned From Feminista Jones

If you hadn’t listened to our podcast The Philly Blunt yet, make it happen. It consists of fun interviews at bars with interesting Philadelphians. Our first one was with Feminista Jones, with whom we talked race, sex, and activism. Feminista is a mental health social worker, a sex positive feminist writer and author of the book Push the Button, and a community and online activist who launched the National Moment of Silence protesting police brutality and the #YouOKsis hashtag that targeted street harassment. She is a remarkable woman and a hell of a great interview subject.

Here are a few highlights. Regarding unity:

The key to unity is really starting inward, and like how much bullshit have we internalized? As a man, as a woman, as a white person, as a black person, as a rich person, as a poor person, how much have you internalized about this identity that you have that makes you think that you’re different from the next person? And that’s really difficult to do because that means divesting of the privileges that come with these things, and we’re not really ready to let that go. So I think that, in order for us to come closer to each other, we have to shed some things, we have to let some things go, and find the commonality, right?

On the difference between white allies and co-conspirators:

I don’t believe that allies exist. Allies and alliances represent a mutual benefit. And so when people talk about being an ally, there is no mutual benefit to being an ally. A street person is not going to benefit from the liberation of queer people. A white person is not going to benefit from the liberation of black people, and a man with women. So if there is no mutual benefit, there is no alliance. You’re not allies. You’re not on the same level. What I need you to do is be a good person. Because if you’re a good person, you affirm everyone’s humanity, and you will fight for everyone, and you want everyone to be free.

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